Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1887-11-17
CHINESE CoGNoMENS.
Peculiar Names of the Natives of tho Ce-
lestiai Kingdom.

pecuilar Names OF the Natives OF tho Ce-
lestiai Kingdom.
1.-The names of Cinnamon translated
into English" said a laundryman the
other day, "sound and look ridiculous,
and afford no idea whatever of their
real meaning In the celestial king
dom family name is carried around
for thousands of years, through one
hundred generations. 1t can be spelled
only Theoretically in any other Ian
guage. A few of the most common
family names are Fung, Hing, Hop,
Lee, Lum, Mong, Sing, Sang, Tong
and Wah. TO these are add.d sur
names equivalent to the English John,
Thomas and SO on, but, unlike these
surnames. they are in every instance
descriptive of some trait or custom, or
perpetuate some deed or some event
in the family history. There are in the
Chinese empire not over one thousand
different family names, while in the
United States there are, in a population
not one-tenth as great, forty thousand
distinct family names, and five thou
sand surnames, near.y all of them
purely arbitrary.
THE family name of a Mongolian
may sometimes convey ludicrous
meaning. For instance, Fung means
the 'worshiper of the divine chopstick. ;
Gee means bandy-legged, and, there
fore, Fung Gee means the handy
legged worshiper of the divine chop
stick Gung means lover of rats,
and the original meaning of family
name will not infrequently become
gradually broadened in its implication.
so that Fung Gung means, in popular
estimation, fat rat-eater. Hing is n
family name that signifies cross-eyed,
and Hing Fung in his own country
would become II cross-eyed worshiper
of the divine chopstick. Of course
the original Mr.. Hing was afflicted
with strabismus, but the blow falls
heavily on the descendants who are
not cross-eyed. Hop expresses the
idea of a bold, bad man, pirate in
bygone days, perhaps, or money
changer, and Han means pink-cheeked;
so you have Hop Han as the pink
checked pirate of the Chinese main.
Lee one of the most common family
names, means musician, one who
plays on the bazoo, and Sun means a
rough fellow, one untamed. In Other
words, Sun-Lee, or Lee Sun, can, with
perfect propriety, be addressed as the
wild Mongolian bazoo player.
but the funniest combination
ever knew" said the washerman, sink.
ing his falsetto voice into whisper
that his partner. who was drying shirts
in the other room, might not hear him,
"was Yung Fung Lung" Yung mean:
cueless-bald head Fung is a numer'
al for three thousand, referring prob
ably to the date of the origin of the
Yung family. Lung means one hav'
ing deformed feet covered with corns
or warts, an infection quite common
among the lower classes of Cinnamon
Join the three names together, ant
see what nice thing you have. The
ba!d-headed one with three Thousand
corns on his feet, that is the litera
translation. Lee, as told you, means
musician, and Tong expresses the ide;
of .arge mouth, literally big an(
ugly-featured, and Tong Lee is there
fore more accurately referred to as tn,
loud-mouthed blower on the bold ba
ZOO.
MANY Chinese family names ex
press sentiment such as Was, 'gentl
lover Foy, 'rice-eater full of joy;
Lum, brave hunter; Mon, Mum, Mul
or Mong, celestial comforter (akin t.
priesO; Wing, 'soft-eyed opium guz
zler;' Yik, 'piggie, and Won, man
DARN. Tsi, Kahi and Ssoraki are roy
al names. - Baltimore american.